A Whole Vault of Shows Not Being Aired

[anotherguyTN]

It kills me to see (or not see) these shows airing while just collecting dust and probably just deteriorating on a shelf until they will technically be unplayable anyways!

Not quite classic tv, I remember "E" airing the NBC-owned Letterman show, which was great for all the times I missed it. I'd also love to see all the old game shows that NBC is letting sit and rot on the shelf as well. ...

Hello? NBC/Universal? Are you there?

Unfortunately there isn't much hope in seeing many game shows from NBC from before the late 70's unless the production company that owned them happens to still have copies. Some time in the late 70's NBC trashed most of their taped programs, including most daytime game shows and soaps, and even Carson's Tonight shows from before he got control of the show. I'm not sure about news or sports, but it won't surprise me if a lot of that is gone as well. ABC was supposed to have also recorded over a lot of daytime programming from that period as well.

 

[Ultimajock]

Amos and Andy (yes, they are not allowed to show them thanks to the NAACP and CBS Films, but I would like to see it as I have never seen a full episode)

...hunh? You really need a history lesson here. First off, the television "Amos 'n Andy" is now in the public domain, so any station that is willing to run it may do so. Second, CBS Films was renamed Viacom in 1971 and split off from the network in 1973. Viacom in turn took over both Paramount Pictures and CBS in the 1990s; its current incarnation is as CBS Corporation, and if there are any "Amos 'n Andy" copyrights that it holds today, it is in the scripts for the radio show written after CBS bought the series in 1949. Third, the NAACP hasn't really given two damns about "Amos 'n Andy" for years now; at the most, any activity against that property has been conducted by small Muslim groups, as in the case of when KNX Radio in Los Angeles suggested circa 2000 that it was considering rerunning the radio version...

 

[Braves2005]

Amos and Andy (yes, they are not allowed to show them thanks to the NAACP and CBS Films, but I would like to see it as I have never seen a full episode)

...hunh? You really need a history lesson here. First off, the television "Amos 'n Andy" is now in the public domain, so any station that is willing to run it may do so. Second, CBS Films was renamed Viacom in 1971 and split off from the network in 1973. Viacom in turn took over both Paramount Pictures and CBS in the 1990s; its current incarnation is as CBS Corporation, and if there are any "Amos 'n Andy" copyrights that it holds today, it is in the scripts for the radio show written after CBS bought the series in 1949. Third, the NAACP hasn't really given two damns about "Amos 'n Andy" for years now; at the most, any activity against that property has been conducted by small Muslim groups, as in the case of when KNX Radio in Los Angeles suggested circa 2000 that it was considering rerunning the radio version...

Actually, this quote from Wikipedia begs to differ about Amos and Andy being in the public domain.

Link: www.wikipedia.com (write in Amos and Andy and go below to "Television" section)

"Although the series is suggested to be in the public domain, the trademarks and copyrights to Amos 'n' Andy are controlled by CBS. Any official video/DVD release, if it ever does happen, will be handled via Paramount Home Entertainment/CBS DVD."

By this statement, this means that the show is NOT even in syndication, much less sold in stores. If it was in public domain, wouldn't outlets such as Mills Creek, Madacy, and other budget DVD companies be selling it? Also, it would be making big time entertainment news for the show to be coming back to TV since the show has not seen the light of syndication since 1966 and some stations until 1968 or so after the station's license to carry Amos and Andy expired.

 

[Ultimajock]

...both amosnandy.net and amosandy.com have been selling "Amos 'n Andy" videos for years without CBS or Paramount taking legal action. I would suggest that Madacy, Echobridge and their ilk are not marketing DVDs of the TV series because they wouldn't be able to get the product into the mass market stores like Wal-Mart, Target, and so on, for fear of public outcry. The only national marketer they probably could do business with would be Cracker Barrel, which does sell the radio shows in most locations. Sam's Club did market Anthony Tollin's boxed set of the radio show, but that's the only place I ever saw it; a subsequent set popped up at the Wisconsin-based ShopKo chain, but that also was a short-lived appearance. All this blustering about the straw-man spectre of "political correctness" is probably just cover for the fact that fewer people are interested in watching "Amos 'n Andy" on a regular basis than, say, "I Love Lucy" or "The Andy Griffith Show," pure and simple...

 

[Aljr]

I used to work for a Top-40 station way back when that had a drive-time jock who did most of his on air announcing doing the Kingfish voice from Amos n' Andy. Did it until he retired a few years back. I don't know how he got away with it.

 

[mleach]

Also, it wouldn't hurt to air reruns of Dennis The Menace (Jay North sitcom) or better still have them out on DVD. I guess it has something to do with Jay North, although TV Land has shown its first season back in 2003.

Even though Jay North has no legal say in whether or not who can air Dennis the Menace or even DVD sales, North over the years has pretty much trashed his own show so much that it has become unwatchable. Sort like the image of Joan Crawford. Today if one watches any of her old films its hard not to think "..no more wire hangers !!" and Mommie Dearest.

With North going on and on over the years about how we was abused on the set of Dennis, how he hated the show, and so forth..for many its really hard to watch the show without thinking "..oh he was abused !!". Not too mention some of the crazy stuff he said back inthe 80s like calling the girls on the TV show "Facts of Life" "wh*res" !!. He didnt even know them !! Plus the story about how he beat his wife because he caught her watching an old Dennis rerun on Nickelodeon.

Maybe North was abused on the show but then again I wonder if jealousy played a role too? After all Kurt Russell, Ron Howard and North are all about the same age and I believe all three were good friends back then. Of course Russell and Howard became famous. Jay North did not.

 

[LKellerIII]

I saw North interviewed a number of times in the 80s, when there was a lot of publicity regarding child stars and their problems later in life - and a lot of interviews with Paul Peterson, who took on the cause as a therapist of sorts. Or perhaps Peterson is a licensed therapist...can't remember

North seemed like a guy with serious emotional problems. But it's got to be tough working that hard when you're a little kid, essentially having your childhood and regular social interaction with other kids taken from you due to the long hours - then having nothing to show for it once you've grown and are no longer marketable.

Dennis the Menace was on a few years before TV actors received residuals. It's a lot easier for later stars, like the Facts of Life girls, who still get regular paychecks in the mail as long as their show is in reruns somewhere. They may not have the fame anymore, but at least they get help paying their bills.

I remember seeing Dick York interviewed around the time he was dying of emphysema. Granted he wasn't a child star, but it was a heart-breaking story, nevertheless. He was living in poverty even though Bewitched had been in reruns for many years, because his Darren years were also before actors received residuals.

 

[FreddyE1977]

On the other hand, the old ABC/DuMont kinescopes of Bishop Sheen's "Life Is Worth Living" are timeless.
Check EWTN, the Eternal Word Television Network, for airings.

Yes, I watch those and am amazed at how well they stand the test of time. Remarkable when you
consider how drastically the world (and the Catholic Church) have changed since the early 50's.
The Archbishop deserves tremendous credit for being ahead of his time and keeping it "evergreen".

 

[bk77]

In reguards to Jay North, he actually had some success after Dennis The Meanace.

He did do that drama Maya (?) in the late 60's and don't forget for a time he was the voice of Bam Bam in the 70's version of the Flintstones plus I believe he made some TV-movie either in the late 70's/ early 80's with Gary Coleman.

But during the 1980s he became more and more bitter. I think it was Nickelodeon's constant airing of the Dennis the Menace that pushed his buttons the most. During the 1980's Nickelodeon would air Dennis up to 3 times a day and when Nickelodeon launched Nick at Night, what was their first show? Dennis The Menace !! Perhaps all of these airings of his old show started giving Jay flashbacks of the abuse he suffered thanks to his aunt.

Could be wrong but prior to the 1980's, Jay I don't believe had ever said anything about the problems he had when he did Dennis the Menace.

 

[Ultimajock]

...perhaps apocryphal, but there is the story of the allegedly-planned anti-Beatle protest at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis on August 19, 1966. One of the people being promoted to speak at this protest rally was Jay North! He, of course, never showed up for it, and I suspect he wouldn't have anyway...

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

One show that has gotten minimal air-play since the late 1960's is "Father Knows Best". That show has the distinction of having been shown on the three major networks during its run. It went from CBS to NBC, then back to CBS during the primetime period of 1954-1962. The last two seasons (1960-61 & 1961-62), the show was in primetime but showed re-runs from the previous seasons. It was on ABC early primetime for 1962-63, still showing re-runs. From 1963 into the late 1960's, it was shown daytimes on weekdays on ABC with re-runs. An area station here did air some of the shows in late afternoon in 1969.

In 1977, there were two made-for-TV shows with the Anderson family portrayed as they were in 1977. One of these was the family at Christmas time titled "Father Knows Best Home for Christmas".

The old 30-minute shows were aired afternoons each weekday in the very early 1980's on a cable station (whose name escapes me). Other than a special extended show on Father's Day, 1989 on a cable station that had all of the actors appearing along with some of the selected shows from the series, "Father Knows Best" is not seen.

I'm not sure if it's a rights issue of some kind or what. I have been able to obtain a DVD of four of the shows - two of which contain the old commercials - at a nostagalia convention a couple of years ago.

 

[Those RRRRs]

One show that has gotten minimal air-play since the late 1960's is "Father Knows Best". That show has the distinction of having been shown on the three major networks during its run. It went from CBS to NBC, then back to CBS during the primetime period of 1954-1962. The last two seasons (1960-61 & 1961-62), the show was in primetime but showed re-runs from the previous seasons. It was on ABC early primetime for 1962-63, still showing re-runs. From 1963 into the late 1960's, it was shown daytimes on weekdays on ABC with re-runs. An area station here did air some of the shows in late afternoon in 1969.

In 1977, there were two made-for-TV shows with the Anderson family portrayed as they were in 1977. One of these was the family at Christmas time titled "Father Knows Best Home for Christmas".

The old 30-minute shows were aired afternoons each weekday in the very early 1980's on a cable station (whose name escapes me). Other than a special extended show on Father's Day, 1989 on a cable station that had all of the actors appearing along with some of the selected shows from the series, "Father Knows Best" is not seen.

I'm not sure if it's a rights issue of some kind or what. I have been able to obtain a DVD of four of the shows - two of which contain the old commercials - at a nostagalia convention a couple of years ago.

The show probably doesn't have a mass appeal which is probably why it isn't on television. But look for Season 1 on DVD by April.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Knows_Best

 

[MACK184]

It's important to note what one poster said about many taped shows being "dumped". Over the years many new TV and for that matter radio execs have given orders to empty the closets dumping out thousands of tapes and memories that cannot possibly be replaced. That I think it the larger tragedy of all that has been happening. So much good audio & video material has been sent to the landfills for virtually no one to enjoy.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

It's important to note what one poster said about many taped shows being "dumped". Over the years many new TV and for that matter radio execs have given orders to empty the closets dumping out thousands of tapes and memories that cannot possibly be replaced. That I think it the larger tragedy of all that has been happening. So much good audio & video material has been sent to the landfills for virtually no one to enjoy.

With regard to this, I have heard it said that some of the shows done on video tape by Ernie Kovacs were recorded over to record other shows - such as the weather. What a shame that is.

 

[Corky Marlowe]

The old 30-minute shows were aired afternoons each weekday in the very early 1980's on a cable station (whose name escapes me).
Was that, maybe, CBN (Now ABC Alleged Family)?

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

That's possible. It was when I first had cable in 1980. I remember the picture quality of that station was not very good (darker-than-usual pictures, seemingly second-or-third-generation-looking videos, etc.)

 

[anotherguyTN]

The show probably doesn't have a mass appeal which is probably why it isn't on television. But look for Season 1 on DVD by April.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Knows_Best

I know that more DVDs of classic shows that aren't on TV any more are coming out, but one main disadvantage I see to DVDs is having to buy an entire season set to get a few favorite episodes. I think that internet downloads, if the technology continues to improve, could become the place to see shows that haven't been seen in years in the future.

It's important to note what one poster said about many taped shows being "dumped". Over the years many new TV and for that matter radio execs have given orders to empty the closets dumping out thousands of tapes and memories that cannot possibly be replaced. That I think it the larger tragedy of all that has been happening. So much good audio & video material has been sent to the landfills for virtually no one to enjoy.

With regard to this, I have heard it said that some of the shows done on video tape by Ernie Kovacs were recorded over to record other shows - such as the weather. What a shame that is.

I remember reading somewhere that Kovacs's widow Edie Adams testified before congress about how that ABC executives dumped a lot of films of old shows including a big part of Kovacs's work into the East River in New York. I wonder if someone were to be able to find where these films were dumped if anything could be salvaged, or will they have been destroyed over time permanently?

 

[rwells2265]

The old 30-minute shows were aired afternoons each weekday in the very early 1980's on a cable station (whose name escapes me).
Was that, maybe, CBN (Now ABC Alleged Family)?

KXTX-39 in Dallas (at the time owned by CBN) aired Father Knows Best in an early weekday afternoon timeslot. 39 was carried on many cable TV systems in Arkansas, including Hot Springs, where we lived at the time.

What I remember about the show was - at least on the syndie prints - how "Kitten" giggles from the stairway as Dad comes through the door and kisses Mom, but on a later revised opening - which featured no such indecent PDA - the giggles can be heard on the opening theme.

I need some "Sanka"......

--Russell

 

[Ultimajock]

It's important to note what one poster said about many taped shows being "dumped". Over the years many new TV and for that matter radio execs have given orders to empty the closets dumping out thousands of tapes and memories that cannot possibly be replaced. That I think it the larger tragedy of all that has been happening. So much good audio & video material has been sent to the landfills for virtually no one to enjoy.

With regard to this, I have heard it said that some of the shows done on video tape by Ernie Kovacs were recorded over to record other shows - such as the weather. What a shame that is.

...his widow, Edie Adams, claims that Kovacs' entire DuMont network output was dumped (along with all the other kinescopes in the archive) into the Atlantic by order of an ABC attorney in the early '70s. Apparently, ABC had acquired the archive as part of a post-folding arrangement between that network and DuMont, and had been keeping the kinnies in storage for about 15 years by that time...

 

[Tim L]

The late Mike Douglas has told the story a number of times about an early co-hosting appearance by Barbra Streisand on the Mike Douglas Show when it originated at KYW-TV 3 Cleveland (proobably late 1961-early 1962) This was before she became nationally known..She was paid $1,000 a week to co-host 5 90-minute shows..KYW arranged for her to sing at a local nightclub that week so she could earn a little more money..

Douglas relates that the tapes of those 5 shows were erased by Westinghouse management-To put station editorials on!